wtfomfg666

I figured I was asking for too much.

ugh. Threads like this are why Vinyl Collective sometimes annoys the fuck out of me. Can someone give me a summary as to what the deal with this release is so I don't have to read through 89 pages of irrelevent posts?

Nah it's not a bummer at all, it was actually a blessing in disguise...at the time it sounded fun little project but looking back now the prospect of packing and shipping 1k records to maybe see a profit (and most likely lose money) doesn't sound quite as appealing lol I'm just glad the albums got pressed on vinyl even if they were released by a somewhat shady dude like him ( I still bought both of them from him and tbqh I was pleasently surprised at how well they turned out)

Yeah this guy is pretty much the epitome of douchyness. Quick story- A few years back I was looking to press The Graduates "Anehodonia" and "Only Every Time" on vinyl. Having no experience in pressing records I did a bunch of research on cost, laquer mastering, etc and than contacted The Graduate via their website asking if they were interested in me pressing their stuff. I got a response and it was from this guy who at the time was their "manager" who said they were definitly interested and wanted to start the process asap. So for months we had back and forth emails between him and I (and occasionally the band) where I researched and provided a laundry list of production costs/information for him and the band for pressing the album, cost differences between color labels and black and white, colored vinyl and black only, gatefold jackets compared to single, etc (and every other possible combination he asked for). So after months of set up, when we were in the "final stages" where basically all I needed to start pressing the records was the bands signature confirming they were giving me the rights to print the record for them he stopped responding to my emails. Fastforward a few months later he comes up with "American Dream Records", whom he proclaims himself to be revolutionizing the music industry and kicks off his new "label" by releasing the 2 records I spent months providing pricing quotes, setting up all the paperwork and helping setup the artwork. I know it sounds like sour grapes but honestly in the end I just enjoyed the records and wanted to see them pressed, so to me it really doesn't matter if it was by me or someone else. I just found his pompous proclamation that he was "changing the music industry" laughable considering I don't think the idea even crossed his mind untill I naively set it in front of him on a silverplatter. Honestly though it probably worked out well for me since I was going to pay for all the upfront costs and had serious doubts I would be able to move them all and at least get my money back...I was looking at selling them at $11-$12 each (which if I remember correctly meant I would have to move around 300 copies of each before I got out of the red), he started off selling them at $19.99 each + $5 dollars shipping (wtf?), which he eventually moved down to $9.99 after they wouldnt sell. Basically the moral of the story is i'm a horribly naive and gullible businessman and this guy is a pompous dousche

The profit margin really isn't that thin tbqh especially with these represses that they are doing, which really don't require a whole bunch of energy and are basically a license to print money. It's not like they are building these releases from scratch.

I don't know why but this whole release and how it has been priced/released just makes me feel dirty. I can't pinpoint the exact reason why but SRC has quickly become everything I hate about the current vinyl collecting community. Not that they give a shit as they bask in their pools of money but I just feel like it needed to be said (and probably said for the 100th time).

This is pretty much exactly what I was trying to say but in typical VC fashion the lynch mob came out and started screaming while totally missing the point. I am in no way defending what RJ did, it was clearly shitty but that certainly doesn't give anyone justification to be indecent as well. Being a liar and a cheat is not a good quality to have, but neither is being spiteful and petty. A lot of people around here need to learn that.

So how exactly is harrasing him going to improve your life, or improve anything for that matter? What's your end goal? Would you like to see him lose his job and/or become homeless because he didn't send you a record over a year ago? Would that be fair? It just seems like a massive waste of time and energy for something that is incredibly insignifigant in the grand scheme of things.

You've got me, I have been hiding in the shadows of this message board for 2+ years awaiting this very moment to quasi-defend myself. You are a true genius.

Of course it's not ok. I am in no way justifying his actions, like I said earlier I also ordered TOYPOJ from him and never recieved it. It sucked, but in the grand scheme of things it was a pretty insignifigant blip in my life. I just don't see how harrasing the guy and/or trying to make his life more misserable than it already probably is will help anything.

So you feel like since he was a dick that gives you the justification to be one as well? The guy lost his business and probably had to file for bankruptcy...or at the very least has creditors coming at him from every angle. Even though I was one of the people he screwed over, I still do not envy the situation he put himself in, and will not impede him from trying to rebuild his life/support himself (unless he is once again doing business in a dishonest matter, which we have no indication he is).

My god you people need to get over this, the kid made a huge mistake and i'm sure he has paid for it in a multitude of ways. What exactly is harrasing him at his new job going to solve? Seriously though, get over yourself...he took money for a colored piece of plastic and never sent it to you, he didn't kill your mother.

lol good god this board is full of a bunch of entitled brats. Hot Topic is a business and as a business their main objective is to make money. Deciding that a certain sale is being abused and removing the source of abuse is not being "shady", it's just a part of doing business.

This won't help you with the orders you already sent out but it might help you with future orders. You should check out ebays new "global shipping program". From what I understand it's basically like a free international fufillment center for all your products where you are only responsible for the domestic shipping cost of sending your product to the fufillment center, where it will then be shipped overseas (with all customs forms, tariffs, etc taken care of by the fufillment center, not you). Payment for the international leg of the shipping will be handled up front and directly between the fufillment center and buyer, not you. Also my understanding is you will only be responsible for the item getting to the fufillment center, the international leg will be fully the responsibility of the fufillment center. Basically from your end it will be like shipping any other domestic order. I haven't shipped overseas for a while now because I had the same problems as you but with this new program I might give it a shot again. Heres more info- http://pages.ebay.com/shipping/globalshipping/buyer-tnc.html

Yeah that's what it looked like to me, i'll probably still reinforce it just to feel safe.

Thanks, this might be the way to go. Did they offer some type of insurance?

How is that 5x5 Expedite working for you? Does it feel sturdy? I have (2) 2x4 Expedites and want to move to something bigger but i'm a little nervous about the 5x5 based off all the pics i've seen online of them collapsing (particularly with vinyl). I have a feeling that most of the time the collapses have to do putting them together improperly and/or people pressing on the sides. Yours seem pretty packed though and seem to be holding up pretty well.

How are you shiipping these? or are you just hauling these things locally? I'm making a cross country move (Florida to Oregon) sometime down the road and trying to figure out the logistic of moving my collection which looks to be similar in size to yours. Not sure if I trust sending all my records cross country via media mail.

or maybe he just needs the money? I mean really what an incredibly lame sentiment...so if he needs to sell the record to pay his rent he should just blindly sell it without knowing the value? or should he just keep the record and use the incredibly heartfelt value the music and art gave him deep inside his soul as his next rent payment?

Oh my god a musician profiting off his own work?!?! Everyone get out your torches and pitchforks!

Yeah I remember when they did that, it sucked pretty bad. Their new packaging is vinyl specific and arguably some of the best out there imo.

What's wrong with Amazon? I haven't had a problem with them since they changed their vinyl packaging

Not sure if anyone cares about her anymore but her new album is up for PO “The Idler Wheel Is Wiser Than the Driver of the Screw and Whipping Cords Will Serve You More Than Ropes Will Ever Do” (good god that's a long title). Release date of June 19th - http://vinylfeed.tumblr.com/post/23992619789/fiona-apples-new-record-now-up-for-vinyl-pre-order

Not sure if this has been posted but this is from MTS's facebook page- "hey guys, my name is timmy and i handled laying out the artwork for this release. figured i'd give you some inside scoop from my firsthand experience on this project and hopefully it can calm your nerves a bit. i started production on this release all the way back at the end of 2010. this has been plagued with hangup on top of hangup from the start. i know we sat on it for a few months (on multiple occasions) in order to get certain copyright approvals for the 7 inches. the original packaging design wasn't cutting it in real life, as the materials weren't strong enough to withstand the weight of the 3 additional 7 inches. it changed printers ... twice. there was always something that seemed to hang us up for a week or two at a time. i've worked with R.J. on multiple releases and we've had our disagreements, but the dude's heart is in the right place. this isn't a scam. in my opinion, it merely shouldn't have been announced when it was announced. we all know that we learn from our mistakes and become a better person / businessman / sandwich-maker - because of it. i'd most definitely be upset if i was in your situation - and i think that the anger has been fueled by some promises that don't seem to have been followed through with. unless there is something going on here that i don't know about, you guys will most definitely get your records, and they will be awesome. there was a lot of love, and stress that went into this and i don't think it was for nothing. you guys deserve an apology for sure, but in the meantime, pump some lossless TOYP&J FLAC files and live life to the fullest. i hope this can all be resolved in a professional manner. super unfortunate it had to get to this point."

Pre-order up at Amazon with a release date of May 29th- http://vinylfeed.tumblr.com/post/21392109412/edward-sharpe-the-magnetic-zeros-new-record-up-for